Wednesday Morning Visit

Braden was doing very well at this morning's visit. He was mainly sleeping but he was ready for his lunch when I was getting ready to leave. They have adjusted his PEEP setting down to a 4 and changed his feeding schedule to try and give him more rest in between bottle attempts. They are just trying to find what is going to work best for Braden. He has been working so hard at trying to take his bottles - we hope he continues to progress and get stronger with his feedings. He now weighs 5 lbs 2 ozs.

Today

Braden is looking well. He is tired though from all his activities. He is still working on his bottles and is doing o.k.. It's a balancing act to find out what will work best for him. So, that's what they are working towards. Finding what will work best.

I also did my first official trach change today. It went very well. I was pleased that it wasn't any harder than it looked. Braden needed his usual hold down but over all he handled it pretty good. Stephen's turn will be next week.

Braden's feedings were bumped up to 38 cc's.

Today

Braden is doing well on his peep setting of 5. He is also going to be bottle fed every other feeding for 15-20 minutes. They are hoping this will encourage him to progress. He is now 5lbs 1 3/4 ozs. Braden was tired tonite for our visit. He took about 12 cc's of his bottle and then was out for the tube feeding. Thank you nurse Patty for working so hard with him on the bottle feedings.

Today

Braden did pretty good on his bottles but still fussy. He took in 20 to 25 cc's out of 36. Over all he has had a good day. Braden has reached 5 lbs 3/4 oz's as of last nite. What a big boy he has gotten to be. It is truley amazing. His peep setting has been turned down to a 5 today. We are hoping he doesn't have to work too hard and can continue to adjust down on the CPAP.

Today

Braden is doing well. He had two bottles today. They have changed his schedule back to one bottle per shift. Hopefully, he will do well. The morning bottle he took the whole bottle. Tonite's bottle took a long time. He took 31 cc's out of 36. He had really bad gas so that didn't help us out. Other wise no changes for Braden. Hope you like his new pics.

Today

Braden is doing very well. He is now 4lbs 14 1/2 oz's. I was able to feed him with his bottle. I also changed him and held him. He is such a big boy. He is still messy and takes his time but he did good. He was wide awake tonite and enjoying spending time with Missy and Stacy. They were giving him lots of love.

Today

Braden had a good day today. We found out Braden had his eye exam yesterday and his eyes are still doing well. So, that is good news. Two weeks and he'll have another one. Braden also took a full bottle tonite. Stacy gave him 3/4's of it and I got to feed him the rest. :-) He did well. We put him in his bouncy seat before we left. He really loves it. Last nite's weight was 4lbs 13 1/2 oz's. Just a few more to go and he'll hit 5lbs.

Tonite's visit

Braden was doing well this evening. He did 25 cc's on his one bottle feed this morning. He had a blue spell this evening but it was due to water in the CPAP that got in his trach. They took care of him though and he was resting well with new bedding when we left.

Morning visit

Well I think we have reached a turning point of nothing to report. :-) Which is a fabulous thing. So I've decided to only post ONCE a day from now on. It'll be the normal evening post.

Braden hasn't had any changes so far today. He did get to try out his bouncy seat last nite. Which we missed but hear that he really enjoyed it. He was being fed when we went to visit. He was wide awake and looks really good.

Tonite's visit

Braden is looking good. He was very wide eyed tonite. We fed him and his daddy held him for his entire feeding. He is up to 4lbs 10 ozs tonite. We want to thank you again all those who have sent him outfits. He really loves his clothes.

Last nite and this mornings visit

Sorry for the double posting and late posting. My mom is in town. Not enough hours in the day to do things and post too.

Braden looks really good. He is coming along nicely. He did well with his bottle this morning. He took the whole thing. Still messy but some progress. We are pleased. We also watched a trach changing today. Next week we will try to change it ourselves. I think the hardest part about the change is keeping Braden happy. Mom enjoyed seeing Braden and is amazed at how he has grown. He's such a little man now.

Morning visit

Braden was taking a bottle from Nurse Patty when we walked in this morning. He did pretty good. He took 30 CC's. We are very proud of him. Maybe he'll do better with just one bottle a day. No changes for today. Patty was able to finally get all the sticky out of Braden's hair. So, now he looks so very handsome again. Braden is looking good and doing well.

Tonite's visit

Braden was not happy about his bath tonite. He was not happy until he was completely dressed and swaddled up. So he got held, fed, and then went off to Z ville. It was a good visit despite his anger over being cold and hungry. Tomorrow nurse Patty is back. Maybe she'll be able to get him to take a bottle. :-)

Morning visit

Braden looks good this morning. He gave Nurse Sherry a bit of a hard time with the bottle though. He took in 10 cc's. The Dr. is going to cut him back to just one bottle per day. Since Braden has had several changes over the past few days she is going to give him a break. This will allow Braden to get a little bigger and stronger. Hopefully, he'll get an increased interest as time goes on.

Last nite's visit

Last nite's visit went pretty good. Braden took 11 cc's on his bottle feeding. He went to sleep half way thru it. Then about 35-40 minutes later he was wide awake. Missy took care of him again last nite. I held Braden a good bit and we were able to have some play time. He is getting bigger. He weighs 4lbs 9 oz's. :-)

Morning visit

Braden looks good this morning. He was sleeping for our visit. He has retained some fluid over the past few days so he is getting lasiks today. A double dose to try and get it off of him. Hopefully, that will take care of it. Braden took about 20 cc's from his bottle feed last nite. So, he did pretty good. Tonite we will get to try and bottle feed him ourselves for the first time. :-) Hopefully, he'll be awake and ready when we get there.

Tonite's visit

We really enjoyed tonite's visit. Braden's friend and nurse Missy was back in town and worked tonite. Missy gave Braden a bath and changed his bed. He loved it. He was being fed when we came in. I held him for a bit and then we just sat and watched him sleep. Missy will try to bottle feed him either at 11 or 2 am. Whenever he is awake enough to be interested. I hope he does well with it this evening. Missy also took as much as possible off Braden so she could get a true weight on him. Braden was 4 lbs 7 1/2 oz's. :-)

Morning visit

Braden is doing well today. No changes for today but they are talking about trying him on the trach collar early next week. Braden wasn't as interested in the bottle this morning. We think he has his days and nites mixed up. He has been sleepy during the day and wide awake at nite. Maybe he'll enjoy a bottle this evening. They say that they want to keep bottle feeding a pleasant experience so they never force a bottle. So, this is part of why it's a long process to get a baby adjusted to bottle feeding.

Tonite's visit

We had a wonderful visit with Braden tonite. He is doing so good. He is getting a bottle once a shift. We watched Stacy feed him and we were so amazed. He took all 35 CC's in about 25 minutes. He did really well and just needed a few breaks. It's an amazing accomplishment. Braden has also done well all day without pressure support on CPAP. We didn't take pictures because we were using video. Maybe we can get some on the next bottle. It is so good to be back and we appreciate the help getting us back. Braden is just doing so well and he is now 4lbs 6oz's. :-)

Morning visit

Braden is having a pretty good day. He is now receiving bulb feeding instead of 15 min feeds. So, we are making progress. Dr. Fish told us that it is common for preemies, especially boys, to have a hernia. Upon Braden's admission exam back to Baptist, Dr. Fish found that Braden does have a hernia. She said it is also likely that he will have another one on the other side of his lower abdomen. This is something that can be fixed. It would be an outpatient surgery and should be done a few months after discharge from the NICU. Braden is on CPAP and has been taken off of pressure support. :-) The respitory therapist says he is doing pretty good. Which is very encouraging. We are so happy to see Braden moving forward.

Tonite

Braden looked so peaceful tonite. He is resting well and had a good day. No changes for this evening.

Morning visit

Braden is doing great. He was able to take a bottle today and did pretty good. He had 15 CC's which is half a feed. The rest he took thru his n-tube. :-) This will be a gradual process so he may not have a bottle every day. They are also changing his n-tube feedings from 30 minutes to 15. Hopefully, Braden will do well on the new 15 min. feeding.

Today

Today was a long day. We finally got Braden back where he belongs at Baptist. We are so happy to be back. Braden was resting comfortably this evening in his new big boy bed. We received a warm welcome back and we are excited to see Patty tomorrow. Since Braden was getting settled back in today we don't have anything new to report. He looks very happy though and doesn't seem bothered at all by the move. Rachel has Braden all settled in and had his feeding going when we left.

Monday's Visits

Braden is doing very well today. He was still breathing a little too fast today for Vandy to do the bottle test. We have decided to have Braden transferred back to Baptist sooner rather than later. Baptist will be able to evaluate his swallowing ability and monitor his progress going forward. Besides, Braden misses his nurses and respiratory therapists!! He is scheduled to be transferred back sometime tomorrow if nothing changes. Please keep Braden in your prayers as he has another busy day tomorrow. We hope to be able to post earlier tomorrow night to let everyone know how the move went. Thank you again for all of your prayers and support!

Today

Braden is now down on both of his peep settings to 5. Vandy says he is doing very well. They may try the trach collar today. Tomorrow if the speech therapist can schedule him they will try a bottle. Once the suck swallow test is done we should be clear to go back to Baptist. That's pending Braden's results. If he aspirates at all then Braden may have to have another minor surgery for a g-tube. We are hoping that will not be the case. So, things are moving forward. :-) Braden's weight is hanging out at 4 lbs 2 oz. He is more alert and awake during the day. It's so nice to hold him and talk to him. Braden is also up to 30 cc's per feeding. For those of you who don't know Braden can open both eyes. We aren't sure why he only opens one most of the time.

Thank you to everyone who has bought preemie clothing for Braden. He has plenty of adorable new outfits to wear. I can't wait till they let him wear some again.

Today

Braden is doing well. He is breathing too fast and they adjusted his peep down to 6 but that isn't doing much. I'm not sure what vandy plans on doing next. But, Braden is not allowed to try a bottle till his breathes per minute go down. Right now he is all over the place. Braden was awake much of the afternoon. I got to hold him for a good while and we had a really good day. We hope he has a good nite. Maybe I'll catch the doctor tomorrow and find out what they are thinking.

Thanks Rochelle for the post. We've had a few nurses say that Braden reminds them of Levi. :-)

Today

Well Braden did pretty good today. He hasn't had much change. They decided not to try a bottle because Braden is breathing to fast. So they adjusted his CPAP peep supp. setting down to a 7. His peep is a 6 and his O's are on 21%. He is doing better but still breathing too fast so we anticipate another setting change tomorrow. They said maybe Monday to try a bottle. We have had a few nurses that have been really good to us. But, no one gets to stay. The shift changes are killing us and we are so tired. We have new people all the time and we miss Baptist so badly. We wish we could get back there. Maybe things will go well over the next several days and they can send him back.

Today

Braden is doing well today and did not have any spells last nite or today. Braden is 3 months old today. His gestational age is 37 weeks. His weight is posted as 4lbs 1oz. However, we are unsure if that is real since we can't remove the trach and vent tubing. They are thinking about adjusting the peep settings a little tomorrow. They are also thinking about bottle feeding Braden to see how he does. We have some concerns about aspiration of the milk into his lungs. Hopefully, he will not have this issue. Braden got a good bath today and new bedding. He needed it. He hadn't had one in a few days since he's been a little touchy from the surgery. Braden also had his first trach change today. It went extremely well.

We hope Braden gets to see Patty soon. His fingernails are really long. :-)

Today

Braden is doing very well. Braden is now on CPAP instead of the vent. He was on 21% O's most of the day. He did have one spell from clamping down this afternoon. But, that is it the rest of the day he did great. Hopefully, he will have a good nite. Braden's first trach change will be tomorrow mid morning early afternoon depending on Dr. Cofer's schedule. Dr. Carter said that Braden may go back to Baptist sooner rather than later since he is doing so well. He may let him go back around Monday. :-) I took a few more photos today. They are better but I had to use the flash so his eyes are closed.

Today's visit

Braden continues to look and do better every day. He even impressed the Dr. with his improvement. They have turned down his vent to 20 breathes per minute. Braden has been doing well on 21% O's which is what we all breathe. Braden has been doing really well with his feeds and they are putting him back on full feeds today. :-) They are discussing weaning him off the caffeine. They don't think he will need it anymore. So, he will continue to get the same dose he has been getting. They just won't increase the dosage to accommodate his growth.

Missy we play his tapes daily. :-) Thanks for checking in on Braden. You know he misses you. I have been using his lavender body wash and lotion. He loves it and I know that familiar smell is good for him. I'll let him know you said Hi and that you miss him too.

Today

Braden looks good today and seems to feel a good bit better. He still requires pain meds about every 12 to 18 hours. He is back on feedings and now up to 10 cc's. Since he has had a poopy diaper today they should add more cc's shortly. His vent has been on 21%-25% O's and he is getting 25 assisted breath's per minute. He seems to only be cycling on his oxygen sat. when he is in pain or mad. Dr. Carter says Braden should be ready to go back to Baptist sometime next week. I did take a few pictures today but only one came out really good. Not enough light in the room. Sorry.. I'll try again tomorrow.

Tonite's visit

This evenings visit went well. Braden seems to be feeling better. His swelling has gone down and they have started his feeds. He is at 5 cc's and will gradually build up to 10 cc's. So far he has digested his food successfully on his past two feedings. Braden seems to be happy on 24% O's on his ventilator. He isn't requiring as much pain meds today. He only had one dose this afternoon so he could handle his bath and bed change. He has been getting a little gunky in the throat and has to be suctioned every once in a while. I am spending most of my days with Braden and just coming home to sleep. I don't want Braden to feel abandoned in his new unfamiliar surroundings.

This morning

Braden had a good night and is having a good day so far. We hope he continues to do well and get stronger. He did need some pain meds early this morning but other than that he has done very well. They have been able to turn down his vent settings this morning and the doctor was pleased with his progress. Stephanie came home last night and got a good night's rest so she is feeling better today too. Thank you all again for all of your support.

Tonight's Update

Not much new to report tonight. Braden had a pretty good day. He hasn't needed any pain medicene since around 9 this morning and he even peeked his eyes open earlier this evening. We are hoping that he has a good night tonight and does even better tomorrow.

This morning

Braden has been resting pretty well. He has had some episodes where he has dropped his oxygen but overall I think he is doing pretty well considering he just had surgery. He is still very tired from his surgery and we are hoping he regains some of his energy over the next few days. His eye exam results came back good so that was very good to hear. We want to thank the doctors and nurses at Baptist who have continued to be a great support even with Braden at Vandy right now. They have been very helpful and more than willing to listen and answer any questions that we have had - we can't say thank you enough. Please keep our family in your prayers. We are all tired, stressed and have alot of information coming at us from all angles. Most of all, please pray for Braden to regain his strength and continue to progress.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. We appreciate the support and prayers more than we can ever put into words. Tonight's post will likely be late. We plan on staying at the hospital until late in the evening then coming home to get some rest.

This afternoon/tonight's update

Braden had another eventful day today. He had more ultrasounds, more visits from doctors and the biggie - he had his scope procedure. The procedure showed that Braden's throat was very swollen and somewhat scarred just below his vocal cords so they had to put a trach in this afternoon. He did very well during the surgery and is resting well tonight. They were able to do the eye exam while he was still sedated so we were pleased about that. We are hoping this trach is what Braden needs to excel and move forward. We hate that he had to go through it but we hope and pray it is what he needed to improve his breathing. All of his other tests have come back with good results since he has been at Vandy. Please keep Braden in your prayers as he is adjusting to this new change. Stephanie is still at Vandy and keeping an eye on Braden.

Braden misses everyone at Baptist and he hopes to get back very soon! We will try and stay in touch with everyone over the next week.

Tonight's Update

Braden had a good first day at Vandy. He had a couple of small spells but other than that he rested well. He had a head ultrasound and an ultrasound of his kidneys. Both results came back today and were good news. His head ultrasound is unchanged and his kidneys seem to be clear of any yeast. He might have a few more tests run tomorrow morning but we are not sure at this point. The big news is that his scope procedure is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. We don't know the exact time yet but it should be later on in the day. Stephanie was able to speak with the doctor who explained what her plans were and some of the possible outcomes of the procedure. We hope whatever she finds she will be able to correct it for Braden so that he can breathe easier and get stronger. I don't know if I will be able to post until late tomorrow evening/night due to the procedure but I hope to be able to let you all know something as soon as possible. Thank you all again for your thoughts and prayers. Please remember Braden tomorrow afternoon and say a little prayer that the results come back on a positive note.

Thursday Morning Update

Braden has made it to Vandy. He got settled in around 9:15 this morning. The transport went well and he has been in sleeping good since he got to the hospital. Stephanie is going to be staying at the hospital around the clock so she is getting settled in herself. We expect to get to speak with most of the doctors that will be working with Braden sometime this afternoon. Once we have more information I will be sure and let everyone know. The schedule for updating the posts may be a little different but I will try to post them as soon as I can. Please continue to pray for Braden's strength and health over the next few days. He will have alot going on and alot done to him this weekend/next week.

P.S. Braden wanted to say hello to his nurses at Baptist!!

Tonite's visit

Tonite we had a really good visit. Both Mom and Dad got to hold Braden tonite. :-) Braden was very awake during our visit. He has a big weekend ahead of him. We are hoping all goes well at Vandy over the next several days. Braden weighed 3lbs 9 oz tonite.

Morning visit

Well tomorrow Braden will be transferred to Vandy for another scope procedure. Fortunately, it is the same Doctor who scoped him the first time. Doctor Koefer will be taking care of him. I am going to stay at Vandy during his entire stay. It may be just a couple of days or a week depending on what has to be done. Hopefully, what ever it is can be lasered and no trach will be needed so he can go back to Baptist. If he has to have the trach he'll have to stay at Vandy for at least a week and a half. Either way we will get him back to Baptist as soon as possible. We love the staff and we know Braden will miss Nurse Patty too much. Also, since I will be living at the hospital postings will be random. We will try to keep you all up to date as much as possible. Thank you all for your continued support. We really appreciate all of you.

Tonite's visit

Braden was having a good nite. He was very alert and awake for our visit. I hope he will have a good nite for Missy since this is her last day. We will miss her and I know Braden will too. We still don't know about the ENT doctor and when the eye exam will be scheduled. We will keep you all posted.

Morning visit

Braden actually sounds better this morning. The Doctor thought so too and said it still could be something that Braden can out grow. We will see. Braden is also due for another eye exam. Poor little guy but at least we know how to handle him now. I am hoping Dr. Fish can get a hold of the ENT and then he can have his eye exam. Maybe he'll do better this time. Tonite is Missy's last nite. I know Braden will miss her.